About Coastal
Coastal is a US based company selling discount contact lenses, glasses and sunglasses for men, women and children. If you’re looking for an easy and affordable way to purchase eyeglasses online, Coastal pay just be for you. A Coastal glasses review revealed the brand’s advertising that you can get a pair of frames starting at $9 – seems pretty impressive, right?
We’re going to thoroughly explore Coastal, so you have a better idea of what you’re getting into if you wish to purchase from them.
Overview Coastal
Coastal was created in the year 2000 by brother and sister Roger and Michaela Hardy, where it began its online journey. At this time, Coastal was purely selling contact lenses and the company name was known as Coastal Contacts. A few years later, they began selling designer glasses online, focusing on making them affordable for the average consumer.
Coastal realized the need for affordable prescription eyeglasses and is determined to bridge the gap between quality eyewear and fair pricing for the average customer. Coastal has a number of exclusive eyewear brands, with the first being Derek Cardigan. This line was created by one of Coastal’s team members and launched in 2010. It was soon followed by such exclusive Coastal brands such as Kam Dhillon, Joseph Marc, Love and Perspective.
To sum up the brand in this Coastal glasses review, take a look at the benefits and downsides of the brand:
Pros
- Coastal eyewear is available for men, women and children
- With their Buy One, Give One program, one pair of glasses is donated for each pair purchased
- The frames alone are incredibly affordable and start at $9 per pair
- There are over 2000 designer frames available on Coastal’s website, each offering their own unique statement and style
- Coastal has a MyFit option to allow you to try on glasses online before purchasing
- Coastal offers a price match guarantee
Cons
- Frames and lenses are sold separately, making the affordability of their glasses slightly deceiving
- Customer reviews for Coastal are mixed; there are reports of glasses falling apart after a few months and being uncomfortable, causing allergic reactions to the metal, and issues with customer service, delivery, and payments
- Limited selection of kid’s glasses when compared to men’s and women’s
Coastal Glasses Review
When it comes to this Coastal glasses review, the brand has a wide selection of stylish discount glasses, many of them being designer made. Coastal heavily focuses on what is currently trendy, as well as including many classic styles.
Coastal currently has 586 glasses listed as men’s and 748 listed as women’s – keep in mind, some of these frames will be repeats, as they are unisex. There are only 16 pairs of kids frames available, which is a stark contrast to what is available for men and women.
In researching for this Coastal glasses review, we found that their process for buying prescription glasses online is easy. The website lets you know whether or not they are available for progressive lenses and whether they can be modified as sunglasses, which is a pretty versatile option. You are then given the option to add your lenses: if you truly want the most basic pair of lenses that include your prescription only, then the lenses can actually be a great deal.
A pair of prescription lenses can cost you just $15 if you go with their Standard Air Lenses–these are the most basic pair of lenses you can get, that still include scratch-resistant and anti-reflective coating. A slightly more advanced pair can run you up to $125 or more for the lenses alone.
Coastal offers several other additions to your lenses, depending on your needs. These include:
- Thin Air Lenses (up to 25% thinner than Standard Lenses)
- Digital protection to reduce blue light exposure, with the option of BlueReflect or SightRelax
- Transition lenses for going from indoor to outdoor
- Custom sunglass lenses with UV protection
For my Coastal glasses review, I found some of my personal favorites to be the Kam Dhillon Banks-53, the Main And Central Carlton-52 and the Clearly Basics Doaktown.
Coastal Sunglasses Review
Next in our Coastal glasses review is sunglasses. If you’re looking for Coastal prescription sunglasses, Coastal offers a great selection. Customers have the option of prescription or non-prescription (for some pairs of sunglasses) available. I found 242 sunglasses available for men, 323 for women and 10 available for kids for this Coastal sunglasses review. This is not a great selection on the kid front, but I understand this more than the selection of standard glasses.
As mentioned, the option for prescription does not exist for all sunglasses. As a general rule, the Ray-Bans that Coastal sells do not have the option for prescription lenses. This may be due in part to the Ray-Ban signature in the top left-hand corner of the glasses, that we all know and love.
When selecting options for the prescription lenses in a pair that can be customized (such as the Joseph Marc 4031s), you’ll have the option of selecting Custom Sunglass Lenses or the Transitions Lenses.
The Custom Sunglass Lenses option allows you to select your own tint colour, which in my opinion, is an extremely custom option that you don’t see every day. Coastal offers the following 7 options for their tint selection:
- Blue mirror polarized
- Amber mirror polarized
- Green mirror polarized
- Silver mirror polarized
- Brown polarized & non-polarized
- Green-gray polarized & non-polarized
- Gray polarized & non-polarized
You then have the option of selecting either the Standard Air Sunglasses Lenses or the Advanced Thin Air Sunglasses Lenses. The only difference with the Thin Air Sunglasses Lenses is that they’re up to 40% thinner than standard lenses. Both include the following features:
- Polarized for optimal sun protection
- Drastically reduces glare
- Scratch resistant and anti-reflective
- UV protection
Coastal’s online glasses try on also works when buying sunglasses, allowing you to upload a photo of yourself to virtually try on your new frames.
Coastal Contacts Review
It wouldn’t be a Coastal glasses review without going back to where it all began: Coastal contacts. Our Coastal contact lenses review found 143 different types of contact lenses, with some of the most popular brands being Biofinity, Dailies, Air Optix and Proclear.
A convenient feature of ordering your contact lenses online, is that they are broken down into lens types right on the product browsing page. These include the following:
- Daily Contacts
- Weekly Contacts
- Monthly Contacts
- Toric Contacts
- Multifocal & Bifocal Contacts
- Colored Contacts
- RGP Contacts
The contacts that Coastal sells can come in up to packs of 90, so you would only need to repurchase contacts every 3 months if wearing daily contacts.
When selecting the contacts that are right for you, you have the option of narrowing down your choice depending on whether you have single vision, multifocal/bifocal and toric and astigmatism. Once you select a pair of contacts, you can enter your prescription right on the product page and select Add to Cart. This appears to be a quick and easy way to purchase contacts online.
How Much is Coastal Eyewear?
One of the most important aspects of this Coastal glasses review is the price. The price of Coastal eyewear heavily changes based on the frames you select, as well as your choice of lenses.
Coastal does not currently have the $9 frames available that they refer to on their homepage, so while it’s very likely that they existed at some point, they don’t at this point. The cheapest pair of frames is the Derek Cardigan 7001 in black, coming in at $19 on clearance. Your most basic pair of prescription lenses will take you up to just $34 for a pair of Coastal prescription glasses, so that’s certainly not bad.
The most expensive pair currently available is the Chloe CE2614-52, coming in at $305, so there’s certainly quite a range to choose from price wise!
In terms of sunglasses, you can get prescription optional frames on clearance for just $15 for their cheapest pair, which is the sunglasses version of the same Derek Cardigan 7001s. The women’s Kam Dhillon Claudia are also currently on sale for $15. The most expensive pair of sunglasses on the website is currently the John Varvatos V773-56, coming in at a whopping $335, with no option for prescription.
In terms of contacts, Coastal’s prices can range greatly, depending on the amount you purchase, lens type, etc. A standard 30 pack box of Dailies Total1 will cost you $42.99 per box, while a 90 pack of Clariti 1 Day Multifocal will run you $85.99.
Coastal Glasses Review: What Do Customers Think?
When going over customer responses for this Coastal glasses review, it seems that overall Coastal has gotten some pretty great feedback. They have been boasted many times as being high quality, stylish and lightweight, as well as greatly affordable for the price.
On the other hand, Coastal has also gotten its share of negative reviews. Many customers have complained about Coastal’s glasses falling apart within months of wearing them, as well as the glasses being uncomfortable and having allergic reactions to the metal used (yikes!).
Their customer service has also been called into question, with complaints of receiving completely the wrong prescription in their glasses and miscommunications with processing payments.
Coastal Promotions & Discounts
For this Coastal glasses review, we hunted for the best deals. Coastal has a page right on their website where you can find currently coupon codes and they have a pretty great selection. You can find them here:
- Use Coastal promo code USA15 for $15 off Contact Lens orders $99 and over
- Use Coastal discount code CLEAR10 for $10 off Contact Lens orders $99 and over
- Use Coastal coupon code TEN4YOU for $10 off Contact Lens orders $99 and over
- Use Coastal promo code FSOVER99 for free shipping on Contact Lens orders $99 and over
- Use Coastal discount code SAVE25 for 25% off frames and lenses
- Use Coastal coupon code BOGO for Buy 1 Get 1 Free on frames
- Use Coastal promo code LENSUP for 20% off all lens upgrades
FAQ
Where to Buy Coastal Glasses
Coastal eyewear can currently only be purchased online at coastal.com.
Shipping Policy
I had a look at the shipping policy for our Coastal glasses review and was impressed by how thorough it was. Here’s a breakdown of it:
- Contact lenses must be verified before shipping, which may take 2-3 business days
- It’s important to check the “Availability” on each product page in regards to wait time before shipping; this can differ by product depending on the lens type
- Once contact lenses are verified and in stock, they will be shipped within 1-2 business days
- Ground shipping will then take 5-7 business days for delivery in the US for all glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses
- Prescription lenses for your online eyeglasses can take 2-9 business days
- Sunglasses without prescription will ship within 1-2 business days
- You will receive a tracking number when your order ships, which will remain trackable for 30 days after shipment
- Some international services do not include a tracking number
- Prescription products do not incur sales tax when purchased, although non-prescription will according to the rate of tax for your region
Return Policy
A Coastal glasses review found that the brand has a 14 Day glasses and sunglasses return policy, which is outlined below:
- Returns can be initiated by contacting Coastal’s customer service team online or by their toll-free number within 14 days of delivery
- Glasses and sunglasses have to be in original new, unworn condition and returned in their cases (provided as a complimentary item)
- Customers are offered a one-time exchange on glasses and sunglasses that are still deemed to be in original, unworn condition once the 14-day return period has expired; this is valid up to 1 year from date of delivery
- Eyeglass cases that have been purchased by the customer can also be returned for a refund within 14 days of delivery
In terms of contact lenses and accessories, the return policy is a little different:
- Contact lenses can be returned if sealed, unopened and unmarked within 30 days of delivery
- Rigid Gas Permeable lenses are custom made and therefore cannot be returned or exchanged
- Contact lens cases are final sale
Contact Coastal
Coastal has multiple convenient ways that they can be contacted, including:
- Their live web chat available on their website
- By filling out an online Contact Information Form
- Via phone at 1-866-333-6888, available 24/7
It’s always better to have options when it comes to lenses. Check out our in-depth reviews for other top eyewear brands:
BonLook glasses
Clearly glasses & contacts
Perfect Lens contacts
